Skip to main content

Under the Boutique Hotel Concept, Independent Hotels May Now Join A Franchiser's Family

Image
By
Hotel franchisers such as Hilton and Marriott are known for its high-quality service with strict brand standards. If an independent hotel with “unique” characteristics wants to join the family and utilize a brand’s existing reservation system and marketing network, it may have to make changes and become a “standardized” hotel. Thanks to the newly-introduced boutique hotel concept, these independent hotels do not have to sacrifice anymore.

Today, seven independent hotels of the Kessler Collection, which represent upper-upscale and luxury properties with “unique” personalities, joined Marriott’s Autograph Collection and became part of many boutique hotels under the Marriott brand. Autograph is the newly-developed boutique hotel concept by Marriott. Unlike other Marriott brand, while Autograph emphasizes Marriott’s high quality, it allows each property to keep its “unique” characteristics. As a matter of fact, Marriott is not the only franchiser who has made this move.

Starwood introduced the Luxury Collection; Hyatt has Andaz brand; Wyndham developed Grand Collection; and Choice Hotels has Ascend Collection, just to name a few. Before, independent and historic hotels might have one option of joining the Leading Hotels of the World Collection or the Luxury Hotel Collection. It will be exciting to watch the future of these franchised boutique hotel brands and see how well these brands can maintain their high quality with “unique” characteristics.
References:
Hotel Online
Travel Weekly
Photoes were copied from the website of The Mansion on Forsyth Park, an Autograph Collection.
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2010 at 8:20 PM

    Hi Linchi,
    Thanks for the interesting info. I have both stayed at the boutique and brand name hotels before. So why do they want to go under their global system? Because of their extensive reservation system? so they can be more visible in the world market? I guess they are in financial crisis also? Love your blogs btw. Keep up your great work!

    Charles

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linchi KwokJanuary 31, 2010 at 1:10 PM

    Thank you, Dr. Adams. When I discuss central reservation center in my hotel operations class this week, I will use this example, and I will ask my students if they have read this article.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Luxury vs. Millennials and Their Technology: The Ritz-Carlton (By Julia Shorr)

By
Embodying the finest luxury experience, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC has been established since 1983. In 1998, Marriott International purchased the brand offering it more opportunity for growth while being independently owned and operated. They are known for their enhanced service level as the motto states, “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen”. The luxury brand now carries 97 hotels and resorts internationally and is attempting to keep the aspects of luxury while keeping up with the trends of the technologically improving generations. The Varying Demographics of the Target Market The Ritz-Carlton’s typical target market includes: business executives, corporate, leisure travelers, typically middle-aged persons and elders, and families from the upper and upper-middle class section of society .   This infers a large range of types of travelers in which all are similar in that they are not opposed to spending extra for the luxurious ambiance. However, with
1 comment
Read more

Is It OK for Hotel Staff to Wear Piercings and Tattoos?

By
Time has changed. I see more and more college students wearing piercings and tattoos nowadays, but is it OK for hotel staff to wear piercings and tattoos? The answer is “no, no, no.” According a report at USAToday.com, customers across the board do not want to see any hotel workers with pierced eyebrow, pierced tongue, tattooed arm, or nose ring. Some may argue that tattooed and pierced workers may seem more acceptable in edgy boutique hotels as compared to the big franchised hotels, but the survey results did not find any differences among a variety of lodging products. Many respondents believe people who wear visible tattoos and piercings are taking a high risk of their professional lives. If you stay in a hotel, do you mind being served by tattooed and/or pierced staff? What if you are the one who makes the hiring decision? References: USAToday.com: http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok08042010 Picture was downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok08042010P
7 comments
Read more

How Covid-19 will change the HR department? (by Vivian Tan)

By
With the current pandemic happening, many businesses are having a hard time. It is hard for them to maintain to pay all their employees, and many things have changed on how companies are running during Covid-19. Because of this virus, employees work from home and might lack the motivation to finish their tasks. Many businesses shut their doors infinitely and file for bankruptcy because it is hard to pay their employees, and there are not many businesses coming in. In the hospitality industry, the HR department must create policies and answer questions from the outbreak. It is also essential that they communicate with workers for any updates and make sure that it does not affect their daily operations.     When it comes to covid-19 concerns, the HR department should communicate with the employees for any updates on the virus, such as informing employees about policies, personal hygiene, posting signs around the workplace about symptoms of the virus, and wear masks. Also, asking employee
5 comments
Read more